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Jazz today, as always in the past, is a matter of thoughtful creation, not mere unaided instinct.

Duke Ellington

It don’t mean a thing if it ain’t got that swing.
DUKE ELLINGTON

Meaning Yourself
If you have a great band with a mediocre drummer, you have a mediocre band. If you have a mediocre band with a great drummer, you have a great band!
DUKE ELLINGTON

Greatness Mediocre Musician Yourself
Without a deadline, baby, I wouldn’t do nothing.
DUKE ELLINGTON

Lazy Limitation Procrastination
Gray skies are just clouds passing over.
DUKE ELLINGTON

Cloud Pass Sky
I never had much interest in the piano until I realized that every time I played, a girl would appear on the piano bench to my left and another to my right.
DUKE ELLINGTON

Appearance Interest Myself Realize Right
I merely took the energy it takes to pout and wrote some blues.
DUKE ELLINGTON

Blue Energy Myself Writing
The problem of expressing the contributions that Benny Carter has made to popular music is so tremendous it completely fazes me, so extraordinary a musician is he.
DUKE ELLINGTON

Contribution Expression Music Myself Problem
Music is the tonal reflection of beauty.
DUKE ELLINGTON

Beautiful Music Reflection
What does music mean to you? What would you do without music?
DUKE ELLINGTON

Important Meaning Music Yourself
A musical profit outweighs a financial loss.
DUKE ELLINGTON

Financial Loss Musical Profit
Art is dangerous. It is one of the attractions: when it ceases to be dangerous, you don’t want it.
DUKE ELLINGTON

Art Dangerous Oneself Yourself
By and large, jazz has always been like the kind of a man you wouldn’t want your daughter to associate with.
DUKE ELLINGTON

Association Kind Man Yourself
New York is a place where the rich walk, the poor drive Cadillacs, and beggars die of malnutrition with thousands of dollars hidden in their mattresses.
DUKE ELLINGTON

Death Hide Place Walk
There is no art when one does something without intention.
DUKE ELLINGTON

Art Intention
Self-discipline, as a virtue or an acquired asset, can be invaluable to anyone.
DUKE ELLINGTON

Discipline Value Virtue
Billy Strayhorn was my right arm, my left arm, all the eyes in the back of my head, my brainwaves in his head, and his in mine.
DUKE ELLINGTON

Bond Friendship Myself Right

Jazz today, as always in the past, is a matter of thoughtful creation, not mere unaided instinct.

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Jazz today, as always in the past, is a matter of thoughtful creation, not mere unaided instinct.

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Popular Authors

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